{"id":616645,"date":"2026-05-01T05:18:07","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T05:18:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/616645\/"},"modified":"2026-05-01T05:18:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T05:18:07","slug":"stein-signs-319m-nc-medicaid-bill-extending-healthcare-coverage-for-millions-in-nc-wral-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/616645\/","title":{"rendered":"Stein signs $319M NC Medicaid bill, extending healthcare coverage for millions in NC :: WRAL.com"},"content":{"rendered":"

North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein approved a $319 million plan Thursday to plug a funding gap for the state\u2019s Medicaid program \u2014 a move that ensures continued healthcare for millions of North Carolinians. But Republicans and Democrats acknowledged that more work needs to be done to find a sustainable, long-term funding solution for a program grappling with rising costs.<\/p>\n

The bill, which becomes law immediately, passed<\/a> both chambers of the General Assembly on Tuesday with strong bipartisan approval.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Stein, a Democrat, has made Medicaid a top priority, pushing the Republican-led legislature to approve the funding amid an impasse over a broader state spending plan. Republican legislative leaders delayed approving the stopgap Medicaid funding as they sought to include cost-management measures in the bill.<\/p>\n

State officials have said the program was due to run out of money next month.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor months, the status of Medicaid in North Carolina has been in unnecessary jeopardy,\u201d Stein said at a ceremony at the North Carolina Executive Mansion. \u201cBut I’m relieved to say that the bill that I will be signing will provide certainty and care that the people and the providers of this state need and deserve.\u201d<\/p>\n

Flanked by Republican and Democratic lawmakers, Stein added: \u201cWhen it really matters, state leaders of both parties can come together and do the work of the people.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Republican lawmakers agreed to approve the funding \u2014 but only with provisions that seek to control rising costs, including fraud-prevention measures and efforts to better vet Medicaid recipients for eligibility.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Republican lawmakers have raised concerns that the Stein administration\u2019s health officials aren\u2019t doing enough to catch or prevent fraud in the Medicaid system, and that the state\u2019s Democrat Attorney General, Jeff Jackson, isn\u2019t doing enough to prosecute fraudsters. Stein pushed back against those allegations Thursday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are always trying to run it better,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are committed to continually containing costs and eliminating fraud, waste and abuse at every turn.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stein had requested $500,000 to help Jackson bolster his team that sniffs out and prosecutes Medicaid fraud, but the legislature declined to fulfill that request and instead proposed giving $500,000 to Republican State Auditor Dave Boliek to hire new staffers dedicated to looking for waste inside the Department of Health and Human Services.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a dual responsibility in the General Assembly \u2014 one to the patients, two to the taxpayers \u2014 to deliver a healthier North Carolina with respect to the outcomes that are happening on the ground and outcomes are happening in the General Assembly with respect to our budget,\u201d state Sen. Benton Sawrey, R-Johnston, said at Stein\u2019s signing ceremony.<\/p>\n

He said the new law, House Bill 696, gives the state\u2019s Medicaid partners tools to manage costs. \u201cIt gives them the ability to look at data,\u201d he said. \u201cIt gives them the ability to help people make choices with respect to where healthcare is delivered, and it gives them the ability to look at better health outcomes for both taxpayers and for the patients.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite opposition to measures that could delay or deny Medicaid coverage for some eligible recipients, Democratic lawmakers and Stein ultimately signed off on the bill because it lifts a cloud over healthcare for millions in the state.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 3 million neighbors on Medicaid can go about their daily lives with the peace of mind that they can get the healthcare that they need \u2014 when they need it \u2014 with insurance that they depend on,\u201d Stein said. \u201cAnd all of us will benefit from a stronger healthcare system as a result.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cost-management measures<\/p>\n

Democratic lawmakers had raised concerns over provisions of the bill that threaten to eliminate coverage for some, including immigrant families. Democrats argue that the bill could revoke Medicaid coverage from more than 25,000 immigrants who are living legally in North Carolina \u2014 including victims of human trafficking and refugees.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cDepriving these vulnerable women and children of healthcare coverage is wrong,\u201d Stein said Thursday, adding that he\u2019s hopeful that Republican lawmakers would adjust the law to accommodate those recipients. Stein also took issue with other measures that could delay benefits at a time when rising healthcare costs are burdening North Carolinians.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Republicans say they\u2019re complying with new federal rules backed by Republican President Donald Trump, but that they\u2019re willing to consider changes if it turns out some of those people should be allowed to continue receiving care.<\/p>\n

The bill includes additional provisions intended to remove people from Medicaid coverage, such as stricter work requirements and income eligibility checks. Those would flag people who make too much money to qualify for Medicaid, as well as people who are able to find work.\u00a0<\/p>\n

House Speaker Destin Hall told reporters Tuesday he supports those measures because he thinks too many people are on the program, inflating its costs to taxpayers.<\/p>\n

“Somebody who can’t work, obviously, they’re going to qualify,” Hall said. “They’re going to qualify. But folks who just choose not to work because they want to smoke weed and play Xbox all day? Those are not the folks who need to be on Medicaid.”<\/p>\n

The Medicaid funding plan also would force DHHS officials to turn over people to federal immigration officials if they discover that someone receiving Medicaid funding has a family member in their household whose immigration status is in question.<\/p>\n

Stein previously vetoed a separate bill<\/a> to put similar requirements on many different government agencies, including DHHS. Republicans have so far been unable to find any Democrats willing to cross party lines on that issue and override Stein\u2019s veto.<\/p>\n

Advocates for healthcare providers, meanwhile, lauded the approval Thursday. Josh Dobson, chief executive of the North Carolina Healthcare Association, called it \u201can important step forward.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBy fully funding Medicaid and putting in place a responsible path on key financing issues, this bill provides stability for a system that millions of North Carolinians do really depend on every single day,\u201d Dobson said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Long-term plan<\/p>\n

Republicans and Democrats acknowledged Thursday that more work needs to be done to come up with a sustainable funding solution for the program.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are headwinds and there are challenges with Medicaid in North Carolina in the foreseeable future,\u201d said Sawrey, the Johnston County Republican. He estimated that Medicaid costs have almost doubled in the past five years and that the plan approved Thursday isn\u2019t a viable long-term solution.<\/p>\n

Medicaid \u201cisn\u2019t happening in a vacuum,\u201d he said, noting that expenditures on the program affect other needs in the state. \u201cThat’s money that we could send back to the taxpayers in income taxes,\u201d Sawrey said. \u201cThat’s money for state-employee raises. That\u2019s investment in our colleges and community colleges. That’s investments in our state buildings and infrastructure and roads across the state.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sawrey said that while he was happy lawmakers were able to arrive at an agreement over this year\u2019s funding, his party would work with lawmakers, Stein and state public health officials to find a solution amid rising healthcare costs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t have any illusion that this is the current solution that’s going to fix everything going forward,\u201d he said. \u201cWe’ve got more work to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stein said he was hopeful legislators would appropriate recurring funding \u2014 not one-off appropriations \u2014 to sustain the program.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can avoid this painful process every year, protect the program for those who rely on it and keep our entire healthcare system strong,\u201d Stein said.<\/p>\n

Stein also acknowledged that cost management will be an ongoing effort. In addition to existing fraud and waste programs, \u201cwe also have to be clear eyed about the rising healthcare costs and commit to longer term actions to constrain them,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cLet’s work together as we contain costs for healthcare over the longer term,\u201d Stein said. \u201cThat’s how we will ensure a sustainable program that keeps North Carolinians healthy.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein approved a $319 million plan Thursday to plug a funding gap for the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":616646,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[2143,97,252,253,33204,1341,121028,3479],"class_list":["post-616645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health-care","tag-general-assembly","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare","tag-josh-stein","tag-medicaid","tag-nccapitol","tag-trump"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/616645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=616645"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/616645\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/616646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=616645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=616645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=616645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}